§ Mr. Joel Barnettasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give his estimate, from information available to him, of the average percentage of retail turnover represented by business rents; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what estimate he has made of the relationship between business rents and the effect on retail prices; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChannonThe relationships of business rents to retail prices and to retail turnover are among matters included in the consideration being given to longer term policy for business rents, and I regret that estimates are not yet available.
§ Mr. Joel Barnettasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the retail trade as to the effect on prices of business rents; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. ChannonRepresentative bodies in the retail trade have been invited to send in representations on the policy to be adopted.
§ Mr. Joel Barnettasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received on his policy to control business rents; and if he will list the firms or organisations involved.
§ Mr. ChannonAbout four-fifths of the 1,500 representations received since the end of January have been telephone calls. Records relating to the remainder do not distinguish between those where the prime purpose was to make representations about policy and those whose purpose was simply to obtain information; and indeed it would often be impossible to make such a distinction. Included in these communications were points of principle made by many representatives of landlords, tenants, developers and professional advisers in this field.